Month: July 2024

 

The BizTec Entrepreneurship Program, which works to promote technological entrepreneurship in Israel, marked the conclusion of its 19th cycle and the start of its 20th cycle at a celebratory event last month at the Technion. Cycle 19 began its activities in May 2023 and quickly included over 100 participants from various technological fields. In the semifinals, 22 teams competed, with 12 reaching the final. The events of October 7 led to the postponement of the final (Demo Day). Many of the entrepreneurs were called up for reserve duty, while others engaged in various volunteer activities.

 

The BizTec program was founded at the Technion in 2004 to nurture budding entrepreneurs looking to develop deep technologies that require interdisciplinary collaboration and a robust knowledge base. It provides tools to students and alumni of the Technion who participate in it, including close professional guidance from mentors from academia and industry.

 

Over the last 20 years, program graduates have established dozens of active companies that have collectively raised over a billion dollars, including BreezoMeter, Augmedics, Windward, Houseparty, and Presenso. The program is currently led by Dr. Lital Atia from the Technion’s t:hub innovation center and student Dvir Dimi, who studies physics and materials science and engineering as part of the Schulich Leaders program.

 

The teams that participated in the final are involved in a wide range of fields, including Team CommU from the T2Med hackathon, and students Hanna Ben Yehuda, Efrat Ordan, Ella Simona Fainitsky, and Hadar Eliad, who presented a project to improve communication between patients and medical staff; student Ilan Zendel, who presented FitTech, a project for managing information in sports teams; Technion alumnus Oren Spector, who presented Refine Robotics to improve automation processes in factories; student Shelly Boneh, who joined Dr. Vadim Igal and Dr. Adi Berco from Carmel Hospital to work on EyeHope, a medical product to help treat eye problems; alumnus Inbar Fisher, who presented GOS, a project for glass inspection; student Kfir Bendic, who presented CowVolution for making information accessible to farmers; Ilan Simmer, who presented Walnut, a project to reduce radiation from smartphones; Dr. Daniel Malchi from Emek Hospital and Itay Tzur, who presented Vacure, a medical device for safer pregnancy termination; Avishai Roet, who presented NoBook to make study materials accessible to all students; and C-Air, an advanced inhalation device from the BME-Hack hackathon with Haifa Said, Ilan Rosenberg, Maia Hirsch, Charlie Shrem, and Michal Katzman.

 

The guest of honor at the event was Izhar Shay, former Israeli Minister of Science & Technology, entrepreneur, investor, and key figure in Israel’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. He spoke about the loss of his son Yaron on October 7, in a heroic battle where he, his comrades, and Kibbutz Kerem Shalom’s security team managed to repel hundreds of terrorists attempting to capture the kibbutz, thereby protecting its residents. Following his son’s death, Izhar established a new initiative called Next October, aiming to create a new startup for every victim, thereby commemorating the victims of October 7 and the soldiers who fell in the battles and fostering the future of Israel’s economy.

Each grant, valued at €150,000, aims to help researchers transition their groundbreaking discoveries towards practical applications and early commercialization phases.

 

 

Prof. Levenberg was awarded the PoC grant for her work on bioactive reinforcing bioink for hybrid bioprinting of implantable bone. “BioForceInk” is a novel bioink designed for 3D bioprinting that can be printed at room temperature and solidifies at body temperature, creating strong, porous scaffolds for bone implants. Enhanced with factors promoting bone and blood vessel growth, BioForceInk aims to improve bone healing and integration. This project will develop and test these bioprinted implants for bone regeneration, collaborating with industry partners for commercialization. BioForceInk’s combination of mechanical strength and biological activity has the potential to advance clinical bioprinting and could be adapted for various tissue types.

 

 

Prof. Meller was awarded the PoC grant for his work on fingerprinting single protein molecules for biomarker assisted precision medicine. The SMProTrack project aims to develop a groundbreaking single-molecule protein sensing method using silicon nano-channels and AI algorithms to achieve unmatched accuracy and detail. This low-cost, portable technology can detect multiple proteins from tiny samples. Focusing on diagnosing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) via liquid biopsy, the project will validate its effectiveness with clinical samples. SMProTrack seeks to provide a cost-effective, highly sensitive tool for rapid and accurate protein detection, with potential applications in various liquid biopsy diagnostics.

 

Iliana Ivanova, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, and Youth, highlighted the impact of these grants since their inception in 2011, noting that they have received more than €300 million in funding. She emphasized that Horizon Europe funding has enabled researchers to advance from pioneering research to innovation. Prof. Maria Leptin, President of the ERC, congratulated the winners and emphasized the importance of investing in curiosity-driven research to maintain Europe’s leadership in innovation.

 

In this funding round, the UK led with 15 projects, followed by the Netherlands (14), Italy (12), France, Germany, and Spain (10 each), Israel (7), Belgium (5), Austria, Denmark, and Sweden (3 each), Finland and Ireland (2 each), and finally, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Turkey (1 each).

 

The Proof-of-Concept grant scheme is exclusively available to researchers who currently hold or have previously been awarded ERC frontier research grants. These grants help researchers explore the commercial or societal potential of their discoveries. The ERC’s 2024 work program included two calls for Proof-of-Concept grants with a total budget of €30 million, funded by Horizon Europe.

 

About the ERC

Established by the European Union in 2007, the ERC is a leading funding organization for frontier research in Europe. It supports innovative researchers of all nationalities and ages to conduct projects across Europe. The ERC offers four main grant schemes: Starting Grants, Consolidator Grants, Advanced Grants, and Synergy Grants, along with the Proof-of-Concept Grant scheme.

 

The ceremony was attended by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, Dean of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine Prof. Ami Aronheim, and Rappaport family representative Irith Rappaport, who has generously supported the faculty’s activities since its establishment. The ceremony included 81 female graduates and 55 male graduates, totaling 136 graduates. Twenty-six of them graduated with honors, five with special distinction, and 14 completed the prestigious MD/PhD program, which combines medicine and research and awards its graduates a dual degree: MD and PhD. The Senior Vice President of the Technion Prof. Oded Rabinovitch conferred the degrees on behalf of the Technion Senate. Prof. Moshe Fligelman was honored with reading the Hippocratic Oath.

 

Technion President Prof. Sivan told the new doctors and their families that “especially today, nine months after October 7 and the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, amid the pain and chaos and uncertainty, I chose to talk about values. In our conduct over the past nine months, we did not lose our composure, and while many systems around us collapsed, we continued to function with inspiring adherence to the values of the Technion. We embraced those whose lives were halted on October 7 and during the war, hosted hundreds of evacuated families in the dormitories and the guesthouse on campus, and supported our 3,500 reservists, the community around us, and IDF units.” President Sivan also imparted some words of wisdom: “Remember not only the professional knowledge you have acquired, but also the values we have instilled in you, the compassion. Always remember them, especially when the sea is stormy, the mast is about to break, and it is tempting to choose easier paths.”

 

 

The Rappaport Faculty of Medicine is named after generous donors Ruth and Bruce Rappaport, who supported the faculty since its establishment. On behalf of the family, their daughter Irith Rappaport addressed the degree recipients, saying, “You are entering a world where your profession is not just a job but a mission, and it is important for me to highlight the importance of this mission, especially in light of the past year and the current Israeli reality. Talking about hope these days is not simple, but as someone who believes in the power of science and medicine to change society, I see in you the hope for a better future. Despite the difficulties, medicine has the ability to connect people, reduce gaps, and bridge disagreements. You, more than anyone, know that medicine is not just a science; it is also the art of compassion and listening. We live in a time when polarization and fear threaten to tear our society apart, and therefore your role is more important than ever, because only through compassion and acceptance of the other can we create healing here.”

 

Faculty Dean Prof. Aronheim told the graduates, “As medicine becomes more sophisticated and technological, your patients will always seek compassion, a smile, a word of encouragement, and a warm touch. They will want to see the truth in your eyes and will ask you to always leave room for hope, even if it comes after another 26-hour shift. The degree awarded to you today is a certificate of honor and appreciation for your completion of all the many tasks we set before you. You definitely deserve to pause for a moment, pat yourselves on the back, and say with satisfaction and pride – we did it!”

 

A Realistic Doctor

One of the graduates of the prestigious MD/PhD program is Dr. Noam Keidar, who graduated with special distinction. His father, Prof. Zohar Keidar, also a graduate of the faculty, is the deputy dean for clinical appointments in the faculty and the director of the Nuclear Medicine Institute at Rambam Medical Center. Prof. Keidar presented his son with the academic hood. Noam grew up in Haifa and studied in the gifted program at the Leo Baeck Education Center. During his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, he won first place in the final project competition when he developed a mobile application for predicting and diagnosing ventricular fibrillation. Later, Noam chose to enter the MD/PhD program, saying, “I wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t want to give up the realistic side.” For his doctorate, supervised by Prof. Yael Yaniv, he expanded his research to other medical issues, including epilepsy attacks and childbirth complications, with the common denominator being prediction based on data analysis using AI. After October 7, like many other young people, Noam was called up for reserve duty, and after several months of service, he began his post-doctoral fellowship in Prof. Assaf Shuster’s research group at the Henry and Marilyn Taub Faculty of Computer Science. There, he works on predicting medical phenomena based on data analysis using AI. He said, “Over the years, I have gained extensive knowledge in medicine and no less in engineering. In my post-doctoral work, I continue to work on the interface between medicine and engineering, and I would like to continue working at this interface in the future, outside of academia.”

 

Bridging Neuroscience and Immunology

Another graduate of the prestigious MD/PhD program is Dr. Maya Schiller, daughter of Professors Jackie and Yitzhak Schiller, faculty members at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine. Maya was born in Jerusalem, studied at the Hebrew Reali School in Haifa, and is now married and a mother to a daughter. She did her doctorate under the supervision of Prof. Asya Rolls from the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, and her research focused on the influence of the dopaminergic reward system in the brain on the immune system. The reward system is activated in positive emotional states and in anticipation of positive events, and Maya and her colleagues’ research showed that such states affect the immune system. Moreover, these studies, published in Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, and Nature Reviews Immunology, showed that intentional intervention in the reward system might lead to the inhibition of bacterial infections and even the reduction of tumor sizes. During her studies, Maya won numerous prestigious awards, including the Clore Prize, the Jacobs Prize, and the Rappaport Prize. She is now specializing in neurology at Sheba Medical Center and plans to combine immunology research and clinical work with patients in the future.

 

Fourth Generation in Medicine

Omer Kerner, a graduate of the 51st class, is a fourth-generation doctor. His father, Dr. Arthur Kerner, is a graduate of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion and the director of the Invasive Cardiology Unit at Rambam Medical Center. His uncle, Arthur’s identical twin brother, is Dr. Ram Kerner, an obstetrician-gynecologist. They are not just identical twins – they completed their medical studies a year apart and are both married to physiotherapists. Omer’s grandmother is Prof. Vicky Kerner, who was the head of the Pathology Institute at Rambam and a founder of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine at the Technion, and their father was a dentist. Omer’s great-grandfather was the first generation of the family in medicine and served as a hospital director and surgeon in the city of Storozhynets in Ukraine; his wife was a dermatologist.

 

Maayan Kinsbursky, a graduate of the advanced degree program in industrial design at the Technion, has won the international Red Dot Design Award for her master’s project. The award ceremony will take place in Singapore on October 10, and the project will subsequently be exhibited at the Red Dot Design Museum, also in Singapore. The project was supervised by Assistant Professor Yoav Sterman, former innovation manager at Nike, and a faculty member in the industrial design program headed by Prof. Ezri Tarazi, in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

 

Kinsbursky’s project, U·Bra, is an innovative bra designed for women who have undergone a mastectomy and cannot have reconstruction surgery. These women often opt for a silicone prosthesis inserted into a special bra, which can cause excessive sweating, rashes, pressure, and shoulder pain. Additionally, the prosthesis can create an asymmetrical appearance and may cause discomfort and embarrassment due to the fear of it shifting or falling out.

 

In Kinsbursky’s research, the bra and prosthesis were designed as an integrated unit, customized for women who have had a mastectomy. The customization is based on 3D scanning, design processing, and 3D printing using a unique method developed at the Technion. The resulting product is a soft, airy, lightweight textile item that is tailored to the specific user.

 

Kinsbursky, who grew up in the Golan Heights, completed her bachelor’s degree in industrial design at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and pursued her master’s degree at the Technion. The award-winning project was realized at the Technion using innovative printing technology developed in the CodedMatter Laboratory led by Asst. Prof. Sterman. As she is currently on maternity leave, Kinsbursky’s lab team is continuing the pilot program, fitting bras for twenty women who have undergone mastectomies.

 

The Red Dot Design Awards, considered to be the “Oscars of the design world,” aim to promote excellence in design. The awards are given in three categories and Kinsbursky won in the Design Concept category. The project was selected to participate in the Technion’s “Science Accelerators” program, generously supported by the Hitman Foundation and the Bernstein Foundation.

 

Photo credits: Haim Zinger, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning Photography Lab (Maayan and Yoav). Reut Degani (Bra).

 

Earlier this year, the Technion held a special event dedicated to student volunteer initiatives related to the current situation in Israel. The event was organized by the Technion’s Social Hub, part of the Dean of Students Office. It was led by Dean of Students, Prof. Ayelet Fishman as part of the “Wednesday Afternoon” event series at the Technion.

 

 

“The horrific massacre on October 7 and the ongoing war present our society and the Technion community with many challenges and difficulties,” said Prof. Fishman. “It is precisely in these moments of crisis that the resilience and strength of the Technion community have been revealed, as many have mobilized for war efforts in various ways. Many students have been involved in volunteer work in agriculture, education, the Technion operations center, and other initiatives. We at the Technion value not only academic excellence, but also social involvement and community contribution. I am proud of all the students who engaged in volunteer activities and congratulate the award winners.”

Joining the winning students at the event were Senior Vice President of the Technion Prof. Oded Rabinovitch, Social Hub Director Ronit Piso, and Prof. Merav Aharon-Gutman who serves as the academic chair of the hub.

“People out there always need us, and the incubator’s goal is to create a bridge and help students and administrative and academic staff cross it and contribute to society as much as we can,” said Prof. Aharon-Gutman.

 

 

Ronit Piso, director of the Social Hub, said, “Usually, when talking about activism, there is a ‘bell curve’: at one end, the few who lead and inspire, at the other end, the few who do nothing, and in the middle, the majority – ‘finger activists’ and salon talkers. Since the beginning of the war, we have seen a different picture: a huge majority acting, cooking, transporting, and assisting in large numbers. Out of hundreds of students who volunteered during this period, we selected five students, each of whom conceived and led a unique initiative where such an initiative did not previously exist.”

At the event, certificates and a cash prize of 2,000 NIS were awarded to each of the winners:

Valerie Kovalenok, a student in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, joined the “One Heart” association’s assistance project for evacuees following October 7. During the activity, she identified the need for workspaces for the evacuated populations to maintain their livelihoods. Valerie established shared offices for the evacuee communities in collaboration with various high-tech companies. The communities of Kibbutz Erez and Kibbutz Orim received mobile offices.

Yedidya Ben Yair, a student in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, took care of families of stateless asylum seekers in Israel who arrived at the Hanaton Educational Center without any possessions. Yedidya provided them with various forms of assistance, from basic necessities such as clothing, to bureaucratic help with enrolling in educational frameworks.

Dvir Simani, a student in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, established a system for organizing funerals: from creating a volunteer database and logistical organization to accompanying families and digging graves. He operated the nationwide, around-the-clock system throughout the war period until the start of the semester.

Sivan Schwartz, a doctoral student in the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, organized a response for evacuated children on the autism spectrum, including medical, emotional, and logistical support. The volunteer organization she established continues to support these children.

Avia Ben-Ari, a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, assisted in the restoration of the Zikim printing house and in generating donations for the headquarters of the hostages and missing persons. She created prints for shirts and posters produced at the printing house for its economic stabilization, and all project profits from product sales were donated to the headquarters of the hostages and missing persons.

Last month, the Technion held the Irwin and Joan Jacobs Graduate Student Research Day, where leading research by graduate students was presented. This year, the research day was held as part of the Technion’s annual Board of Governors meeting, and the works were presented by students who had previously won in faculty research days.

 

According to Prof. Uri Peskin, dean of the Graduate School, “The posters presented by the students were of a very high standard and sparked lively discussions. It was a celebration of the diverse research at the Technion. They are a source of pride and inspiration for all of us.”

 

In the PhD category, first place was awarded to Anas Odeh from the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, supervised by Prof. Peleg Hasson, for his research on inhibiting lysyl oxidase as a novel route to inhibit fibrosis in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Second place was awarded to Nir Strugo from the Nanoscience and Nanotechnology program, supervised by Prof. Ariel Kaplan, for his research on dynamic interactions between transcription factors and DNA at the single-molecule level. Third place was awarded to Yael Hershkovitz Pollak from the Wolfson Faculty of Chemical Engineering, supervised by Prof. Hossam Haick, for her research on volatile organic molecules as markers for intercellular communication between apoptotic and cancer cells. The People’s Choice Award was given to Perla Armaly from the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, supervised by Arch. Shani Barath and Prof. Assaf Shwartz, for her development of building materials based on cyanobacteria.

 

In the Master’s category, first place was awarded to Merav Berkovich from the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. Her research, supervised by Prof. Tal Alon-Mozes and Dr. Daniel Metcalfe, focuses on “living tiles” – the integration of growing material in tiles. Second place was awarded to Ilaie Nadejde from the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering for his research on mechanical vibration control using phononic crystals, supervised by Dr. Pavel Galich. Third place and the People’s Choice Award were given to Tamir Shapiro from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering for his work, supervised by Prof. Ido Kaminer, on free electron computed tomography.

 

The Taub Faculty of Computer Science recently held its annual social-technological hackathon: CS Hack – Doing Good. This event aims to harness technological innovation for the benefit of society and the community. This year, following the events of October 7 and the Swords of Iron War, it focused on developing technological solutions to improve mental resilience.

Participants in the hackathon – 140 students from all computer science degree tracks – worked on their inventions for 24 hours straight and were mentored by faculty members, researchers, engineers from industry, and therapeutic professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers. During the weeks that preceded the hackathon, the participants met with patients and professionals in order to learn in depth about the relevant fields. The students visited Kfar Sarah, a post-traumatic growth healing center, and attended a lecture by Yotam Dagan, a clinical psychologist who was the specialist for the elite Shayetet 13 unit, entitled “Thoughts about trauma, resilience, and digital mental health.”

 

 

First prize went to a group that developed a technology to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through cooking. Their treatment is based on virtual reality (VR) glasses in a virtual kitchen – combining cooking, nature, and music selected by the user. The students in the group were Amal Hihi, Haya Hihi, Leena Shakour, Wijdan Eslim, and Adan Shamma. The idea was conceived by the Hihi sisters, daughters of the late Faiz Hihi, who was killed during his army service. According to Amal, “On the day that Dad was killed, Mom waited for him with a dish of stuffed grape leaves, and since then, for 20 years, she hasn’t been able to prepare this dish. Not long ago, on Memorial Day, Mom took part in a cooking workshop meant to help people cope with loss – and that’s where the change happened, and she went back to making stuffed grape leaves. That is how we understood the enormous potential of cooking as a means of therapy, and that is the background of our initiative.”

 

 

Second place went to Yinon Goldshtein, Ido Amit, Avishai Mualem, and Avidan Borisov, who developed an AI tool that improves the treatment of PTSD through personally adapted assignments. Goldshtein explained that “psychological treatments sometimes include assignments that the patient must complete at home, such as journaling, where he or she records experiences and small successes, or detailed planning of the following day, or documenting exposure to fears. The system we designed enables the patient to speak in a regular manner to a designated bot. In this way, we improve the home assignments and also help the patient track their progress. The advantage of our group is that we are three master’s students whose field is AI and one psychology student with a background in psychology and cognition, so we were able to combine the therapeutic aspects with the capabilities of language models that function in a local and secure environment.”

 

 

Third place was awarded to Yoav Sahar, Yaniv Vyssokii, Ron Cohen, and Maxim Wainer, who developed a system that cancels out loud sounds such as ambulance sirens, which may trigger PTSD sufferers’ symptoms. The code developed by the team recognizes “triggering” sounds in real time and erases them immediately. In the future, this code could be used to filter unwanted sounds in phone conversations, television shows, and YouTube videos. According to members of the group, “our vision is to expand the code so that it will be able to filter a larger variety of sounds that might frighten all of us these days, including ambulance sirens, motorcycle noise, and firecrackers, so that people with PTSD from their army service and those suffering from anxiety can lead calmer lives.”

The jury also gave special mention to Saar Drive, Keren Losev, Shir Yehyie, Eden Elgavi, and Galor Lazar for developing an internet platform aimed at alleviating emotional and psychological hardships of those serving in the army reserves by making bureaucracy and information about their rights more accessible. The system processes Form 3010 and additional minimal personal data and collects the individual rights and benefits of each reservist from all the various government entities and NGOs. Moreover, the system fills out the relevant forms automatically in order to lighten the bureaucratic burden.

Among the other projects developed by the students include a system for early detection of ASD symptoms, making it possible for the patient to receive treatment at an early stage and recover from PTSD as early as possible by monitoring physiological indicators and responses to text questionnaires; a system that connects to the patient’s smart watch while they’re sleeping and monitors indicators in order to detect an approaching attack, in which case it activates relaxing music until the indicators stabilize; a game of Chasing the Sun based on Google Street View and a well-known technique which has been proven clinically to reduce the risk of PTSD by converting negative memories to positive experiences; and the commemoration project “Remembering their Voices,” where one can listen to texts in the voice of someone who died, alongside the screening of pictures, thereby creating a video featuring their voice and image.

At the start of the event, Prof. Danny Raz, dean of the Taub Faculty of Computer Science, said that “I have many roles as dean, but standing here is one of the most exciting. I can see the energy, the motivation, and the desire to do good in the world. This hackathon has a unique aim – to do good – and like in all things, the most important part is the people: you, the students who will work on the projects, the mentors who will guide them, and no less important, many people who will benefit from these inventions. May you do good and succeed.”

Since October 7, tens of thousands of wounded soldiers and civilians have embarked on rehabilitation processes. According to estimates by relevant professionals, a large share of the wounded is not only coping with physical challenges but also with anxiety, depression, PTSD, problems adapting, problems communicating, and psychotic conditions. Consequently, it is crucial to find efficient solutions related to mental resilience.

Colonel (Res.) Prof. Eyal Fruchter, an alumnus of the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and a member of its faculty and the former head of the IDF’s Mental Health Department, lectured at the start of the hackathon. He talked about how PTSD symptoms have been well known for a long time, but the phenomenon’s recognition as an actual disorder is relatively new. In the past, it was ignored and often mislabeled as nostalgia, homesickness, weakness, and other names. “Today, we know many things about PTSD: that it is an actual physiological phenomenon that can have severe ramifications – depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, addiction to drugs and alcohol, and even cancer; that psycho-therapeutic intervention at an early stage can be very helpful; that we know that defining a person as disabled harms their chances to heal; and that around one-third of the people who currently experience PTSD symptoms will not have PTSD forever. What don’t we know? We still don’t know how to diagnose and evaluate PTSD using objective tools, and this is where your field – technology and computers – can make a big difference. We need technological tools that will help the patients and the therapists. We would like to be able to diagnose people in an objective manner, because this is also in their interest. That is how the ‘cloud of suspicion’ that hovers above them will be removed. As a result, we will be able to provide treatment precisely to those who need it,” he said.

Dr. A., head of the Algorithm Division at Rafael’s R&D Center and a Technion alumnus, told the participants: “I’m here for two reasons – firstly, because I began my professional journey at the Technion and spent a decade of my life here; and secondly, in addition to its significant contribution to Israel’s security, Rafael contributes to society through revolutionary and groundbreaking technological innovations. Already as a student at the Technion, I mentored disabled IDF veterans coping with PTSD, and I understood the importance of personal rehabilitation and mental resilience. I came here today with a team of mentors, engineers from Rafael, in order to help them, and for us it’s a great privilege to be here.”

The hackathon partnered with the Restart NGO, which was established by soldiers wounded during Operation Protective Edge in 2014 and seeks to improve the lives of wounded soldiers and help them get their lives back on track. Nir Leon, who headed the NGO’s mentoring program until recently, was wounded during the Second Lebanon War when he was a commander in the reserves. He is 44, married and a father of three, and only discovered that he has PTSD three years after he was wounded. “It was a slow decline,” he says. “My circle of friends shrank, I dropped out of university, I had a hard time keeping a job, I closed up inside myself. When I was diagnosed in 2009, the treatment of emotionally wounded IDF soldiers wasn’t developed like it is today, but at least I understood from what I was suffering.” Regarding the hackathon, he says that “the fact that this event exists is very important in itself, even before we talk about the actual innovations. There’s a large group of students who came to do good – and that shouldn’t be taken for granted. They are being exposed to the world of PTSD and they will tell their friends about it, and in this way awareness about this subject will grow. PTSD must not only be the secret of those who suffer from it.”

The unique hackathon lasted two days (June 20-21) and took place in partnership with the Israel Ministry of Defense, the IEC, Mobileye, Cadence, KLA, Rafael, the Technion’s Center for Student Counseling and Support, and the Technion’s Social Hub. These organizations helped mentor the students and evaluate the solutions. The various projects were presented to the jury, which included tech experts and mental health professionals, and was headed by Prof. Yoram Yovell – a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, author, and brain researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Research by the Technion has demonstrated that activation of the brain’s reward system could boost recovery from a heart attack. The research, which was conducted at the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, was led by Ph.D. student Hedva Haykin under the supervision of Prof. Asya Rolls and Prof. Lior Gepstein.

 

The Technion research group focused on the reward system, a brain network activated in positive emotional states and motivation and evaluated its potential in improving recovery from acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (commonly known as a heart attack). In an article published by the researchers in Nature Cardiovascular Research, they demonstrate how in AMI in mice, the activation of this system significantly reduces the extent of the resulting infarct scarring and improves the clinical outcomes of the AMI. The research findings establish a causal connection between the reward system and recovery from AMI, introducing potential therapeutic avenues for intervention.

 

It has long been known that emotional states are able to influence cardiac function. For example, in an extreme case known as “Broken Heart Syndrome,” acute stress is liable to trigger a condition that mimics a heart attack. Broken heart syndrome is a condition where some of the heart muscle weakens rapidly, but there is no evidence of blocked coronary arteries. Similarly, psychological processes have a known impact on recovery from a heart attack, and on cardiovascular disease in general. For instance, anxiety and depression can worsen the heart’s condition, whereas positive emotional states can improve it.

 

The physiological mechanisms at the foundation of the heart-brain connection are still unclear. Now, thanks to the collaboration between Profs. Rolls and Gepstein, there is good reason to hope that the research findings will lead to improvements in the treatment of heart disease.

 

Heart attacks occur when blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium) is obstructed following partial or complete blockage of a coronary artery by blood clots. In the acute phase, this is liable to lead to a variety of severe symptoms, and even to life threatening arrhythmia (sudden cardiac arrest). In the chronic phase, prolonged deprivation of oxygen supply to the myocardium can lead to necrosis and post-necrotic myocardial scarring as part of an inflammatory reaction. This leads to a gradual decline in the heart’s ability to pump, to the point of developing a clinical condition known as heart failure. As mentioned, there is evidence that the emotional state can influence the course of disease and recovery following AMI, but until now, the underlying physiological mechanisms were not well understood. The Technion research reveals a novel mechanistic connection between the mental state and recovery outcomes from heart attack.

 

The reward system is largely activated by the release of dopamine in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in the brain. Positive expectations and motivation stimulate neurons in the VTA. Studies in Prof. Rolls’ laboratory have shown that activation of VTA dopaminergic neurons modulates immune activity, partly through the regulation of the sympathetic nervous system. In the present study, active intervention in the VTA by the researchers following AMI resulted in favorable modulation of the immune response within the damaged myocardium, a reduction in myocardial fibrosis, an increase in blood vessel formation, and, as a result, an improvement in cardiac performance. The researchers found that these beneficial effects on the heart are mediated, at least in part, by the secretion of the protein, complement component C3, by the liver, which is also a member of the immune system.

 

There are presently numerous methods to actively (as opposed to naturally) stimulate the reward system, in humans as well. This effect is potentially achievable by available, non-invasive means, including pharmacological interventions, biofeedback, and focused ultrasound. Consequently, the Technion researchers’ scientific discovery could have meaningful future implications on the treatment of heart attacks.

 

Prof. Lior Gepstein, Director of the Cardiology Department at the Rambam Health Care Campus and an academic staff member at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, is a world-renowned cardiac researcher. Among other subjects, his diverse research studies discuss the generation of heart tissue from human embryonic stem cells, cardiac arrythmias and their treatment, and the development of molecularly targeted therapies and cell transplantation in heart disease. His many achievements include the development of a biological pacemaker (Nature Biotechnology), cardiac tissue engineering (Nature Communications), development of optogenetic-based therapies for the treatment of cardiac disorders (Nature Biotechnology), and innovative models based on induced pluripotent stem cells for research and treatment of inherited heart conditions (Nature) and drug development.

 

Prof. Asya Rolls is a psychoneuroimmunologist and a leading researcher in psychosomatic effects, i.e., physiological mechanisms whereby emotions and thoughts affect physical health. In research published by Prof. Rolls in Nature Medicine in 2016, she demonstrated that intervention in the brain’s reward system strengthens immunological host defense, thus enhancing defenses against bacterial infections. In an article published in Nature Communications two years later (2018), Prof. Rolls showed that activation of the reward system attenuates tumor growth. In another article, published in 2021 in Cell, Prof. Rolls demonstrated the ability to “reactivate” colon inflammation (colitis) by influencing the brain alone.

 

Hedva Haykin recently completed her doctoral studies under the joint supervision of Prof. Rolls and Prof. Gepstein in the framework of the Faculty of Medicine’s multidisciplinary program for outstanding students, while concurrently completing her MBA studies at the Technion. As mentioned, her present research was published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, and she was also recently awarded the Israel Heart Society’s J.J. Kellerman Young Investigator Award for 2024.

 

The present research was supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the Howard Hughes Medical Institutes (HHMI), the Wellcome Trust, Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the Mirian and Sheldon G. Adelson Medical Research Foundation.

For the full article, click here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44161-024-00491-3 

 

The world’s population is aging at a rapid pace. Estimates indicate that the percentage of people aged 65 and over in the population will double over the next two decades. Enhancing the quality of life of the elderly is thus one of the most complex health challenges facing humanity. As part of the Technion’s vision to engage and influence global challenges and health issues in particular, the Technion Center for Healthy Aging (iTechAge) was launched as a multi-disciplinary, campus wide research center.

At the launch event, Deputy Senior Vice President for Biomedical Science and Engineering and Head of the Technion Human Health Initiative (THHI) Prof. Noam Ziv, described the evolution of the Center from its inception to its current form. This initiative was made possible, among other things, by a large-scale effort led by Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan to promote cross-faculty collaborative research in the realm of human health.

 

 

During the event, Prof. Shai Shen-Orr, head of the Center for Healthy Aging and faculty member at the Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, detailed how the integration of the Technion’s unique strategic advantages—a technological university with a medical faculty, experience in collaborative multi-disciplinary research, the accumulation of high-quality professional knowledge for analysis and inference, investigators from the fields of medicine, science, and engineering in a collaborative research environment with a collective goal, commitment, and sense of mission—will lead to formative research with a real impact on people, communities, decision-makers, and policies.

 

 

Later in the event, the four synergistic Center components were presented:

 

Establishing the Center and Creating Content

Emphasis on creating a community of researchers, strategic collaborations, pooling resources, and sharing knowledge.

 

Creating a Representative Human Cohort

Spanning a wide spectrum of ages and having increased diversity characteristics, initially encompassing about 1,000 individuals and expected to grow to about 10,000. The database based on this cohort will include clinical data and biological samples collected longitudinally over many years and will serve to address multiple health, medical, and lifestyle questions.

  

Systems Medicine Center

Creating a unified center for the collection, analysis, and centralization of samples and data, based on existing infrastructure centers, including the Azrieli Genomics Center, the Smoler Proteomics Center, and the Perlmutter Metabolomics Center.

 

Research Themes

• Decoding Aging Mechanisms at the Cellular and Molecular Levels: Led by Assistant Professor Ayala Shiber and Associate Professor Arnon Henn from the Faculty of Biology.
• Studying Aging Influences on Body Systems (Immune System, Hormonal System): Led by Assistant Professor Noga Ron-Harel, Faculty of Biology, and Prof. Shai Shen-Orr, Faculty of Medicine.
• Studying the Effects of Aging on Brain Function: Led by Assistant Professor Firas Mawassi, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, and Assistant Professor Ben Engelhard, Faculty of Medicine.
• Biomarkers and Integrative Models to Understand and Predict Aging Metrics at the Individual Level: Led by Associate Professor Yoni Savir, Faculty of Medicine.
• Designing, Developing, and Testing Food and Drug Compounds for the Elderly: Led by Prof. Uri Lesmes, Biotechnology and Food Engineering.
• Means and Devices to Aid Movement and Mobility Among the Elderly: Led by Dr. Arielle Fisher.
• Social Aspects of Aging: Communities as means to maintain mental and physical health, and establishing appropriate directives to optimize such aspects, led by Associate Professor Merav Aharon Gutman, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning.

 

The Center was established thanks to the involvement and support of the Senior Vice President of the Technion, Prof. Oded Rabinovitch, the Vice President for Research Prof. Noam Adir, the Vice President and CEO Dr. Rafi Aviram, and the Vice President for External Relations and Resource Development Prof. Wayne Kaplan.

 

This is the first year that higher education has been included in the Globes Brand Index. The index reveals that in response to the question of where to study, one in five Israelis recommends the Technion over any other academic institution. Additionally, the index shows that relevance to the labor market is the main criterion when choosing a university today.

Every year, Globes publishes the 100 leading brands in Israel, and this year it included institutions of higher education for the first time. The index is based on a particularly broad survey of 3,500 respondents, aged 18 and over, who constitute a representative sample of the Israeli population, including Haredi and Arab communities. The survey was conducted between April and May by the New Wave Institute, an external and independent research institute specializing in consumerism.

 

The Technion, which opened its doors 100 years ago, is among the top 100 universities in the world according to the prestigious Shanghai Index and among the top 10 technological universities globally. The Technion has gained a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in many fields, including science, technology, medicine, education, and architecture. According to Technion President Prof. Uri Sivan, “The Technion reaching first place in the higher education category in the Brands Index is an important and exciting vote of confidence in our centennial year. For one hundred years, more than one hundred thousand graduates, and thousands of administrative and academic staff have fortified the security, economy, and society of the State of Israel and continue to shape its future out of a deep commitment and mission.”

For the full list, click here.

 

The three Technion faculty members who were selected are:

Prof. Oded Beja of the Faculty of Biology, whose field is metagenomics – an approach that analyzes organisms in their natural environment. This approach was developed in response to the fact that around 98% of all microorganisms can’t grow in laboratory cultures, certainly not in a manner that resembles the natural process. Ribosomal RNA analyses provide many insights, but not a complete understanding of the organism’s ecological function and its physiologic and biochemical properties. The approach used by Prof. Beja’s research group exposes this knowledge using metagenomics, making it possible to overcome this problem by analyzing the microbial genomes and detecting protein-coding genes and biochemical routes in cells. Using metagenomics, Prof. Beja discovered microbial rhodopsin proteins used for harvesting light energy.

 

 

Prof. Benjamin Podbilewicz of the Faculty of Biology, who studies cell fusion mechanisms in fertilization and organ development. His pioneering work led to the discovery of two fusogens that cause cells to fuse: EFF-1 and AFF-1 in C. elegans. These proteins are necessary and sufficient to fuse cells during the development of organs. His group demonstrated that switching viral fusogens with EFF-1 or AFF-1 causes a viral infection. This was the first time it was shown that cellular fusogens can replace viral fusogens. The group solved EFF-1’s atomic structure and discovered a structural similarity to viral fusogens; this was the first structure that has been solved for cellular fusogens. Together with Pablo Aguilar, Podbilewicz predicted that a plant protein (GCS1/HAP2) structurally resembles EFF-1 and proved its activity. They defined a super-family of fusogens from animals, plants, protists and viruses known as fusexins. His lab found that EFF-1 and AFF-1 maintain and repair the tree-like structure of neurons and showed how dendritic branches age and ways to rejuvenate them. He also studied the first mammalian sperm fusogen with Tetsuya Higashiyama, and new fusexins in Archaea with an international consortium.

 

Prof. Asya Rolls of the Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine studies psychosomatic interactions – specifically, how the brain influences the immune system and its ability to cope with diseases. Her work demonstrated that the reward mechanism in the brain, which is connected to motivation and hope, increases the immune system’s activity, thereby boosting the defense against viral infections (the research was published in 2016 in the journal Nature Medicine). In a different study (published in Nature Communications in 2018), she showed that similar brain interventions lead to a dramatic reduction in the size of cancerous tumors, mediated by the immune system. In an additional article from 2021, published in Cell, Prof. Rolls demonstrated a difference aspect of the connection between the brain and the immune system by showing that the brain preserves “memories” of past diseases, and is capable of reproducing these diseases by activating those memories. These findings have dramatic ramifications on understanding the placebo and nocebo effects, as well as the outbreak of diseases following certain emotional experiences.

 

EMBO is an international organization whose members are scientists from 30 countries. 92 Nobel Prize laureates are now, or were in the past, members of the organization. Its main goals are to support talented researchers at all phases of their careers, promote the sharing of scientific knowledge and help create a rich research environment that enables researchers to make the most of their abilities. The new young scientists who join the four-year program, during which they receive financial support from the organization, enjoy important professional connections, mentorship of senior researchers from the EMBO community, leadership training, and access to the research facilities at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. The organization, which was founded in July 1964, is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary. The new cohort includes nine Israeli researchers.

 

Click here for the New EMBO Members 2024 list Outstanding scientists elected to EMBO Membership – Press releases – EMBO

 

One undergraduate student and two doctoral students from the Andrew and Erna Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering have been selected to attend the 73rd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, where young scientists meet with Nobel laureates. Some 650 young scientists from around the world will participate in this year’s meetings, which will take place this week.

 

Nevo Werner-Reiss is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the double-major track of Electrical Engineering and Physics at the faculty, and is a member of the Technion Excellence Program.

Exceptionally for an undergraduate student, Nevo was an active member of Prof. Shahar Kvatinsky’s lab which he initially joined toward the end of his first year in the Excellence Program for a summer project. There Nevo worked on adapting and evaluating algorithms and hardware designs for In Memory Binary Neural Network inference accelerators. During his third academic year, Nevo presented his research and won the “Best Student Poster” Award at ATTO9 – The 9th International Conference on Attosecond Science and Technology that was held in Jeju, South Korea.

In his poster, Nevo showcased his research project: “Towards Quantum Tomography of Attosecond Pulse by FROG-CRAB” where he explored the effect of photon statistics on FROG-CRAB. His research was supervised by Matan Even Tzur and Prof. Oren Cohen. Nevo is continuing his studies as a graduate student at Prof. Yuval Shagam‘s Molecular Quantum Technology Lab.

 

Sapir Biton completed her undergraduate and master’s degrees at the faculty and is currently an Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship, which is given to outstanding doctoral students by the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations. Under the supervision of Prof. Nir Tessler, Biton’s doctoral research focuses on devices in the fields of optoelectronics and microelectronics based on electrochemical processes.

According to Prof. Tessler, “Electrochemical transistors and memories are likely to be part of the next stage of the microelectronics industry, and I am very pleased that Sapir has taken us in this direction. The fact that researchers worldwide are changing the structure of their devices following Sapir’s insights is direct evidence of her excellence.”

In an article published in 2023, the two presented a model describing the instability mechanism in perovskites – cells that are expected to be integrated into silicon solar cells and later also into lightweight and semi-transparent cells for various other applications. The findings are expected to accelerate the use of perovskites and improve the production of green energy.

 

Michael Birk completed a double major in physics and electrical engineering as part of the “Pinnacle” Future Scientists program, and he is currently a doctoral student under the joint supervision of Prof. Ido Kaminer (AdQuanta) from the Viterbi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Prof. Oren Cohen from the Faculty of Physics. In his doctoral research, Birk focuses on the theory and application of quantum optics.

According to Prof. Kaminer, “Michael’s contribution was crucial to our publications in Nature Physics and Nature Photonics last year, where he was one of the lead authors. Together, the two articles laid the foundation for a new research field – strong-field quantum optics – which has already begun to engage researchers worldwide. In a third article published in the Journal of Optics, Michael led the Technion’s contribution to an international collaboration of researchers, demonstrating impressive leadership and collaboration skills.”